Nigeria's 'Boko Haram' militants given life sentence

Nigeria's 'Boko Haram' militants given life sentence

The green states on this map in Nigeria recognize Islamic Sharia law, while the white states in the mostly-Christian south are governed by secular law. Islamic militant group Boko Haram is believed to have killed as many as 600 people since 2011, in an effort to implement Sharia law in the entire nation.

A Nigerian court on Tuesday sentenced four members of the Islamist group Boko Haram to jail for life over their alleged involvement in deadly bomb attacks in Nigeria, according to BBC News.

The ruling marks the heaviest sentence yet levied against the extremist group, said the BBC. The four suspects are believed to have orchestrated the bomb attacks in Nigeria killed at least 19 people last year.

All Africa said Nigeria's Abuja Court found them guilty of involvement in the Suleja and Nasarawa attacks.

The court also sentenced a Boko Haram militant to 10 years in prison and freed another due to lack of evidence, according to Reuters.

The Boko Haram group is trying to establish an Islamic state north of Nigeria, according to the BBC.

They have increased their attacks throughout the nation in recent months to such an extent that authorities had to deploy troops to certain areas and announced a state of emergency in May, said the BBC.